A new tetranaphthoimidazolium receptor was synthesized and reported to be a selective fluorescent chemosensor for phytate, myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6). In a 100% aqueous solution at pH 7.4, chemosensor 1 showed a selective fluorescence enhancement for IP6 over IP3, phosphates, pyrophosphates, AMP, ADP and ATP. An excimer emission at 465 nm linearly increases in the range of 300 nM to 1 μM with a detection limit of 2.28 × 10(-7) M. In addition, first live cell imaging of IP6 has been demonstrated by using a synthetic receptor.